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SiC modules set to cut ship transformer size by half

The US Navy will be the first to benefit from smaller, lighter electronic modules used to distribute power on aircraft carriers and other ships.

Silicon carbide chips will be the key component in a new generation of high-power electronic modules that promise to dramatically cut the weight and volume of transformers used on board US Navy ships.

The components will be developed by Northrop Grumman's Electronic Systems unit (NGES), under an $8.9 million contract awarded by the Office of Naval Research (ONR). The award also forms part of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA's) phase-two effort on wide-bandgap, high-power switches.

NGES will construct high-frequency, power electronic modules using SiC chips developed and fabricated at its own facilities in Baltimore.

Specific devices under development include SiC MOSFETs, insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) and PiN diodes.

These will then be assembled to make 10 kV, 100 A half-bridge modules by Powerex, a program partner of NGES based in Youngwood, PA.

Other team members include GeneSiC and a series of US universities, while Northrop's Newport News sector will develop the solid-state power substation.

Power modules made with the wide-bandgap material will form a key part of the transformers used to distribute power on naval vessels, with the US Navy planning to incorporate the technology on its new CVN-78 aircraft carrier.

Construction of the CVN-78 is due to begin in 2007 and is slated to be placed in commission in 2014, when it is expected to replace the USS Enterprise.

Steve McCoy, director of advanced technology programs at NGES, said that the US Navy ships featuring the technology would benefit from increased space and weight that would be made available for extra sensors, systems and weapons.

The use of SiC-based modules alone is expected to save 170 tons in weight and 290 m3 in space on board the ships.

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